Collision 2022 saw Sparg0 win his third tournament in exactly seven days. While this spectacular feat stole headlines, the story for most of the event was the number of stunning upsets that occurred. With competitors traveling to New Jersey from all across North America, no top player was safe. Everyone brought their A-game — and underestimating your opponent often ended with an early exit. Here are the top upsets from the event.  

Goblin fights through Loser’s after early loss  

It didn’t take long at all for the upsets to start at Collision. One of the bracket’s top seeds was sent to Loser’s in just the third round of pools.

Fresh off a good showing at Smash Summit, Goblin entered Collision as one of the many big names to look out for. However, he dropped his second set of the tournament 2-1 against a local Dedede player named Wheezer. 

The match happened so early that it wasn’t shown on either of the event’s Twitch streams. Both players went on to finish with solid placements. Wheezer finished 33rd with a 4-2 record. Meanwhile, Goblin rebounded from the early loss and still went pretty far. He eliminated Elegant in Top 32 before losing the Roy mirror to Kola in Top 16. But what a start... 

Toast adds Kola to his list

A veteran of the Smash scene since 2014, Toast is no stranger to upsets. The Young Link main has taken sets off premier names like VoiD, Kameme, and Light during his Ultimate career. To make Winner’s side Top 32, he had to take out one of the tournament favorites.

Toast matched up against Kola’s Roy in a battle of swordies that went down to the final game. He closed out the set in convincing fashion to add another name to his resume and send Kola to Loser’s. 

Unfortunately, Toast couldn’t keep the upsets going and lost his next two matches to Glutonny and Chag. Kola on the other hand went on to make Top 8, defeating Goblin and Glutonny along the way. He ultimately came just short of a reverse 3-0 against Riddles and had to settle for 7th place.    

Quidd and Zomba’s Collision course

Zomba is currently one of the brightest up-and-coming stars in Smash Ultimate. The 16-year old phenom broke out in 2021 with Top 6 placements at CEO and the Smash World Tour finals. He’s carried that momentum into this year, finishing 2nd at both Frosty Faustings and Glitch: Infinite. 

Quidd is another new player making waves on the scene. He, too, broke out in 2021 — albeit mostly online. In his first offline major, the Pokemon Trainer main finished Top 32 at Mainstage. He then won Let’s Make Big Moves last January, defeating Kola in the Grand Final. 

With both having a lot to prove at Collision, the hungry upstarts met in Winner’s Top 16. The two traded games back and forth in a highly contested bout. Quidd closed out the set with one of the most impressive ledge guards with Ivysaur that you’ll ever see. The victory put him in Top 8 and guaranteed a Top 6 finish. 

Zomba just missed out on making Loser’s Top 8, falling to Light 3-2. Quidd ran into a pair of brick walls himself, dropping his Winner’s Semi-Final match to MkLeo before being eliminated by Riddles in Loser’s Quarters. Nevertheless, both players can hold their heads high with Top 12 performances at Collision.   

Cosmos eliminated in back-to-back upsets 

Names like Tweek and Dabuz are more commonly mentioned, but Cosmos has been making a strong case for the best player from the United States. The 23-year old is coming off a 2nd place finish at last year’s Smash World Tour finals and a tournament victory at Glitch: Infinite. With plenty of world-class talent showing up for Collision, it was a golden opportunity for Cosmos to cement his S-tier status. 

But things didn't go as planned for the state's best Aegis. Cosmos dropped his first set in Top 128 against Shadic. The Corrin loyalist went up 2-0 before letting the Glitch champion back in to tie up the set. With a 2-1 stock lead and his opponent sitting at 85%, the victory seemed in the bag for Cosmos.

That was until Shadic pulled off an extraordinary comeback you have to see to believe. 

Shadic went on to finish 17th, falling to Quidd and Jakal his next two matches. In another shocking result, Cosmos was eliminated by Peabnut in his very next match offstream. After finishing 33rd at Collision, he’ll have to wait until the next major to prove he’s among the best of the best. 

Stocktaker69: Remember the name

Though his gamertag is utterly ridiculous, Stocktaker69’s play is no joke. The Wolf main from New York is a veteran of the Tri-State Smash scene. He is also no stranger to major events, having numerous Top 32 finishes under his belt with a few Top 8’s to boot. 

Against the best players in North America, Stocktaker69 put on a show for the home crowd. En route to a 9th place finish, he pulled off two of the most impressive victories in the bracket. The first came in Top 128, when he defeated Chag in a thrilling 3-2 set. After going up 1-0, Stocktaker69 dropped the next two games before winning two sets straight to close things out. 

He then went on to 3-0 MPg before facing Elegant in Top 32. To nearly everyone’s surprise, Stocktaker69 soundly handed the world’s best Luigi a 3-1 defeat. Elegant was sent to Loser’s while the hometown hero’s Cinderella story continued. 

Sitting in Winner’s Top 16, Stocktaker69 had two chances to make Top 8. The first came against MkLeo, where he was swiftly defeated 3-0. To keep his tournament hopes alive, he would have to take another set off Chag for Top 8. The Palutena specialist showed that adaptation is what separates the good players from the great.

Chag dominated the set, winning 3-0 and putting an end to Stocktaker69’s fantastic run. Still, everyone who watched Collision is sure to remember his performance — or at the very least his name.

Who do you think pulled off the most impressive upset at Collision?